ENCHANTED OBJECTS

Enchanted Objects, Design, Human Desire, and The Internet of Things, by David Rose, Scribner 2014 

MIT Media Lab’s David Rose sees  things, not unlike Hollywood sci-fi prodigies.  But he also has created a few new products of his own, start-up companies that take us further into the invisible technology assists we know are “out there.”    That’s why his book with the lovely title, Enchanted Objects, is such a fun read.

My favorite section of Rose’s book is entitled “Six Future Fantasies” –

1.        On-Demand Objects

2.       Calming Objects

Rose makes the point that multi-tasking and faster and better ain’t necessary so.  And the antidote he predicts will be a spate of new enchanted objects that restore stillness.  Aahhhhh. Stillness.  Calm.  

But the technical barrier to creating this new world of calmness, of unseen technology interacting with other unseen technologies, quietly, just below the surface, is , as we see with current manufacturing initiatives stuck on lean is, a technology integration and analytics challenge.  Rose says, “We need things that communicate with each other, cooperating to help us smoothly transfer our attention from one focus to another.  “    

So what we are waiting for is a integrating technology – could be analytics that carefully filter the critical messages, for instance, from the uncritical – and thereby limit our multi-tasking to a lower level of interaction with “the machines.”

Manufacturing, for example, is still far, but not too far, from this idealized factory scene.

3.       Hackable Objects

4.       Objects that Learn

5.       Objects with Digital Shadows

6.       Enchanted Objects to Subert The Enchanted Objects

In the extrapolation of Rose’s vision of wearables and machine-learning, the healthcare challenge looms large.  For those of us who journey in and out of healthcare, we all wonder at the communication challenge.  What’s missing in a smooth information flow appears to be in the hands of patients, the only true integrators extant now in “the system,” but what Rose sees glimpises of in his Enchanged Objects may supplant the patient’s additional unfortunate burden with integrated systems and wearables that detect, monitor, message and focus on key indicators.  We are walking an uneven landscape, and the horizon continues to scroll out in our view, but with the kind of vision and intelligence Rose projects, we might just envision solutions on the horizon.  Can’t come soon enough.